Wave Effect
by Delusional Fishies
Summary: Waver has found himself a stranger in a strange world. So many possibilities...


**Wave Effect**

The rain had a bitter taste to it. In this pitch black alleyway, his senses could only pick up the sound of hundreds of thousands of rain drops splattering against some kind of alloy of metal. Waver had not encountered this material before, but what little scholarly interest he had was quickly lost in light of his situation. He had no clue as to where he was; only that it seemed to be something of a dream than anything real. It could not be real, could it? He wondered, looking left and right in morbid curiosity. Such a place he was in could not be anywhere on Earth.

These blinding, quick flashes of light were not so different from London, Waver decided. They were just brighter and stranger. And larger, Waver corrected himself quickly. He knew of the metropolises that were scattered across the world, each with millions living within. But none of them compared to where he was now. If he was to describe it, he could only say that he was in a mega-metropolis.

Everything that was not alight was dark as shadow, looming over him like giants. But even the modern structures that he knew of could not compare to the sheer size and height of these buildings. The rain only amplified the sense of a shadowy maze that he had somehow stumbled into.

If he was honest with himself, Waver might have said that he was lucky. After all, he had just escaped the deathtrap known as Fuyuki City. That place still horrified him; at least, it has haunted him with nightmares for the past week that he had left. He had been in a rough shape then, and he was no better now. Still, he had found something there that was, in hindsight, worth much more to him than any lecturer's respect. But that was the past.

Sirens passed him, as he brooded in this tight, damp alley. This entire world seemed foreign to him: everything from the sights to the smells didn't seem right. The buildings around him were formed in tasteless structures, as if mass produced by a machine and not built by man. The vehicles that flew passed him were plain yet alien. They had literally flown away—something that he had thought to be an impossibility for mundane humans to achieve. But they were mundane; he had seen and felt that much at least.

And this frightened him.

It was not the sights and sounds and smells of industry that caused him to pause here, in this alley however. Those were merely extra signs. Waver had felt it already that he was a stranger in a strange land. It was the mana of the planet that caused him to freeze. It was abundant and rich, yet not pressing down on him like an overwhelming force. The sensation had caused him to postulate that he was on a different planet entirely… but that's impossible… right?

Even without these signs, there was still the very feeling of change that shook his soul. It was like he had gone through his life with only black and white, and had finally discovered Technicolor. As much as he might wish to deny it, all the signs were there. Science and technology had changed—improved—by leaps and bounds in what seemed like an hour in his perspective. And the worst thing was Waver could not even detect a single sign of his kind, the magus. It was as if they never existed.

This shouldn't happen at all! It shouldn't happen to anyone—certainly not him! Waver wanted to cry into the sky and ask what he did to deserve this. He wanted to just go home, where ever that was, and crawl into his bed and never wake up. It was this moment that caused his mental fortitude to slip, that he even let himself wish he was back in London, going about his dreary life as a student in the Association. But it was just a moment. He had already realized he couldn't go back once he opened the figurative Pandora's Box, even back during the Fourth Holy Grail War. So he could only match forward… and hold his head high with pride, as a comrade of the King of Conquerors.

"Ow!" He ducked, having just smacked his forehead against a steel railing on the side of the alley when he straightened his back. "This isn't how an adventure should begin," he complained to himself, "And somehow, I think this is all your fault, Rider."

Despite being an alien in an alien world, his clothes were not strange enough to warrant a second glance from the humans who passed him. He was sure they were human, and yet their outfits were all too plain, yet there were tiny pieces that caused Waver to frown. There was a piece here, a tiny gadget there, and an extra zipper or pocket somewhere else all of which added up to be a strange fashion that he had never seen before, outside of the few periodicals that featured science fiction.

He quickened his steps, breathing quickly as he scanned his surroundings frantically. Nothing was right and everything seemed to be out of place. This city was built too orderly, but all these streets were familiar. His eyes widened but he denied his first theory, muttering under his breath, "No… that's impossible. There's no way this is…"

…He stopped. Just as every other building loomed over him, this one was no different. But it caused him to pause. There was nothing on the building that drew his attention. It was the sign in front of the building, on its small, token gesture of a lawn. Waver's face was like the stone engraving he stared at, shocked.

_Fuyuki Central Library…_

It was different, completely different. Waver thought that the buildings around it, and the library itself, had been plucked up, crushed, and then uniformly built together to be part of this larger metropolis. But that was impossible, wasn't it? No matter how Waver tried to deny it in his mind, the proof was evident. He walked up to the building slowly, shaking his head from side to side in confusion before placing his hands on the shutters of the locked doors of the building. He slid his palm against the cold metal, slick and freezing to the touch from the rain. It felt real. The cold felt real.

He pinched himself. "Ow!" He winced before frowning. These shutters were identical to those that his Rider had demolished on the first night of their meeting. The thought of those memories invoked a smile on Waver's face, wiping away his frown and confusion. Happier times, he thought, '_I was such an idiot back then._'

But reality smacked him square in the face. If this library existed, then…

…Waver turned and looked upwards at the towering skyscrapers of the city. Unlike the structures he was used to, these buildings reached hundreds of stories into the sky, like monstrous tentacles scratching at the clouds. In fact, many of the taller buildings seemed to have pierced through the clouds and heavens, leaving Waver to only wonder where he was.

His clothes were still the same as always, only wetter. His tie, his polo, his sweater, his striped, silken pants and everything else were still in place. It was the same outfit he had worn into the war, like a bad copy of a Hogwarts uniform. At that inane thought, Waver couldn't take it anymore.

He looked up at the stormy skies and laughed. A hand had reached up to support himself, but against the rippled reflections on the ground, this was like an image of insanity. He felt warm droplets roll down his cheeks, but were they tears? Or were they just warm drops of rain?

Hadn't he just escaped this city?

Waver's knees shook, but he didn't fall. The memory of the King of Conquerors prevented him from bending his knees to anyone else, and his pride wouldn't allow him to lose control so easily. Echoes of Iskander's voice brought a slow grin to his visage. With that, his moment of weakness was over. He wiped away the rain and ran.

By the definition of his memories, everything seemed to make sense. Despite being a strange world, by simply following the map of Fuyuki City that he was familiar with, Waver found that he could navigate the streets with ease.

"First," he panted methodically as he sprinted down the road, "I need somewhere warm and dry. A place to stay would be…" He knew where he wanted to go.

For a regular human, running without stop for an hour could be rather straining. Waver sprinted quickly towards the outskirts of the city at speeds normal humans would be hard pressed to achieve, but with his carefully regulated control of prana, he was hardly winded. As he passed through the edges of Fuyuki City, he passed a familiar farm, and could even hear the clucking within. He paused and gingerly crept closer, peering inside the large barn-like structure that he had come across. "…Huh," he nodded in surprise and muttered, "I know those chickens."

During the Fourth Holy Grail War of Fuyuki City, Waver had stolen those chickens to prepare the summoning ritual circle to summon Rider. It was one of the first steps he took to becoming his own person and fighting for himself. The memory of that night, when he had cut the critters up for their blood caused Waver to flinch, but it was the thought of what happened before that caused him to grimace. He had spent over an hour trying to catch those chickens, with his hands covered with peck-marks and with Waver covered in chicken droppings. It was something of a horrible memory that he wished to forget.

When Waver arrived, he was surprised by how alike the MacKenzies' house was to the one in his 'world'. The building looked new and better protected, but it was the same house he had stayed at. There were strange appliances and trinkets inside and outside of the building, but in the end, it was mostly the same. This far away from the city, the house stood without any intimidating, looming skyscrapers or strange vehicles running around. In fact, this place was rather isolated which was idle for Waver.

As it turned out, the house was occupied by the MacKenzies, who looked the same as he had left them. Waver wasted only a moment before he hypnotized them in the same manner as he did before, with the same results. This entire process wasn't long, but it felt weird for Waver. After all, everything happened so similarly that he felt he was in a dream.

The MacKenzies, an old couple that lived in Fuyuki, warmly welcomed their 'grandson'. Like how it was in Waver's 'world', Glen and Martha MacKenzie had immigrated to Japan twenty years prior, though their real son and grandson had left them to return to Canada. Waver discovered this information through the same hypnosis skills he used before; it was a strange déjà vu for him.

After a shower and putting on some of the dry, clean clothes of the real grandson, Waver spent a few minutes staring at the room he was given. With trembling hands, he ran his fingers against the bed sheets, mumbling, "This bed… it's exactly the same."

After snapping out of his daze, Waver explored other parts of the house. When he peeked into the couple's refrigerator, he grumbled, "Even in a different world, bread is still cheap and terrible." But even as he complained good-naturedly, he took a piece out and munched on it slowly. The MacKenzies were extremely accommodating, just as how he remembered them to be, and they had left him to his own devices.

There was something similar to a television with a holographic projection in the living room where the television should have stood. For a genius magus of Waver's intellect, it only took him a very long time to figure out how to turn it on. But he did it, and almost jumped back in surprise when the machine flickered on. From what he could tell, channels and new stations were still the same as always.

"…_Earth nations gathered around their vidsets today for Super Bowl CCXIX, an annual sporting and media event that culminates the North-American-Union-Rules football season…"_

Waver lounged back as the… vidset… flipped to a news channel. He sighed and sat back, barely listening to the news report, only contemplating what his next move was. From here, he needed to find other magus. If he was stranded… that line of thought didn't bode well for him at least.

"…_The New York Giants defied expectations and took down the Beijing Dragons in a tight 24-19 game. The highlight was a 69-yard pass from Krogan QB Bragus Thul…"_

And what's more, there are real alien creatures running around the world now. Waver sighed again, "What a surprise, my world is turned upside down," he grumbled, too tired to manage anything more than a deadpan. "What would you do if you were me, Rider?"

* * *

><p>"What," Waver asked incredulously, "is that?"<p>

"Oh, Waver! Good morning to you too, kid," Glen MacKenzie looked up from the orange, holographic projection that stemmed from a gauntlet-like utility on his wrist. He raised his mug of coffee at the younger man in an informal salute before turning back to the translucent screen that seemed to scrolling down automatically. The older man was sitting at the dining table with his breakfast, as if without a care in the world and all he was doing was reading the morning news.

But to Waver, who had never seen such a strange tool before, it was a reminder to him that this wasn't his world. But he had no way of knowing if only Glen had one of these futuristic pieces of technology or if it was something common in this world. Were he the Waver at the start of the Fourth Holy Grail War, he would have used discretion and subtly pried the information out of the older man, but Waver has changed a lot since then. Instead, he pointed at the light-construct screen that floated above Glen's wrist and asked again in a more subdued tone, "What is that?"

Glen blinked twice before answering good-naturedly, "Kid, you're trying to keep an old man like me on my toes, and I appreciate that. But I'm not _that_ old, yet." He waved his arm gently, causing the screen to waver slightly. "This is an omnitool; it's a basic model that I got a couple of years ago, but I can still surf the extranet and watch the game, pretty easy. You kids these days should have a better model, right?"

Waver filed away this information quickly. There were things that he needed to learn about the native circumstances of this world, and things like this 'extranet' might be useful to know. He quickly improvised and said, "Alright Grandpa, you got one. Here's another question. How does it work?"

"Eh?" Glen frown, "How does it work, eh? I'm not too sure. I'm not a tech-geek like your dad, but you have to have those implants in your fingers. Erm, the thing is a… what-cha-call-em… tiny computer, sensor scanner, and a small factory all rolled into one. It uses nanotechnology and electrostatic force fields to, well…" The older man scratched the back of his head slowly, as if trying to recall forgotten knowledge. After a moment he smiled, "Ah, you got me, Waver. I don't remember it, you don't mind if I look it up, do you?"

Waver kept his act up a little longer and smiled congenially, "Not a problem, grandpa."

After several taps of his fingers, Glen brightened up and turned to Waver excitedly, "Well, you know that there aren't real solid holograms. You got these implants in your fingers, pretty much everyone has them, that's supposed to work with a… haptic interface, that's the word I forgot. Anyway, it's a neat little tool that lets you play games, watch television and do all sorts of things. Did I get close enough?"

"You…" Waver nodded and sighed, "yeah, close enough."

If Glen noticed his 'grandson's reaction, he didn't comment on it. Instead, the old man turned back to his breakfast. With a flick of his hands, the omnitool had shut itself off.

After grabbing some breakfast, Waver went back up to his room and contemplated what he had seen. It was technology that was beyond anything that his world could replicate. He cupped his chin and meditated on this problem, muttering to himself almost absentmindedly, "Could it be that one of the other Master's wish was granted, and this was the outcome? This certainly seems most possible…"

He stared down at his hands, focusing his prana into his eyes. This was a skill that any magus could accomplish, and he was no different. It was the ability of Structural Analysis; Waver stared down at his fingers and noticed with a gasp of surprise that he had tiny, microscopic implants in the tips of his fingers on his left hand. On his right hand, he had some kind of computer chip, or a group of computer chips, implanted into the back of his hand. His eyes narrowed as he focused on this machine, but it was too complex for him to comprehend. There was too much of a technology gap between his world and this one! "That's… peculiar," he grumbled, "If reality was rewritten, why do I have memory of what happened? Shouldn't what I know, what I knew, be… replaced?"

Still thinking about what might have been the winner's wish at the end of the Grail War, Waver waved his right hand in a motion that his muscles remembered. He followed this muscle memory and suddenly, there was a glowing, orange construct of light on his right arm. It was a strange sensation, because he saw something there, but he felt not a thing above his skin. Curiously, he leaned close, only to lean through the light. When he used his left hand, only when his fingers touched the light, did it have a reaction.

Strangely enough, the implants in his fingers also caused a reaction he could feel. It felt like he was actually pressing on something solid, when there was only light. Such a thing would have dazzled the magus at the Clock Tower, for sure, he thought. When he pressed another button on _his_ omnitool, a small screen popped up, identifying the owner of the omnitool. If common civilians could have such power at their fingertips, then…

Waver frowned at a different thought entirely. How had he ended up with this device, if he had only come to this world? If reality has really been changed by the Grail, then…

There were too many questions, Waver decided, and too little time. He needed to figure out what was going on. He had thought to call his family or perhaps his colleagues in the Clock Tower (He was rather a loner that he didn't really have any actual friends there, and not without any effort on his part either. People seemed to flock only to those who had long bloodlines and shunned everyone else.) but he realized that this world doesn't even use telephones. How was he supposed to call home without a bloody phone?

He decided that perhaps his first move would be to seek out the other masters of the Grail War. It was the logical thing to do after all, since if they were in his similar situation, then he would be able to narrow down who had gotten the wish and perhaps even figure out what the wish that was made was. At first he tried to use the omnitool to seek out information, but it was rather difficult to understand. All he had figured out was how to turn up his identification on this machine.

It even had a three-dimensional picture of him on this identification screen, but it seemed to have some information wrong. Waver scowled as he scrolled down what was a page that was a mix of a profile, a dossier, and a resume. "What the…? I never attended Oxford! It's gotten my birthday right, but this…" There was a list of where he had studied and what he had studied. Physics, nanotechnology—studied under a Professor El Melloi?—and some other mundane studies. It seemed like a full thing student career, with no mention of his studies into magecraft.

After shutting off the omnitool, Waver placed his hands behind his head and fell back onto his bed. He sighed and closed his eyes, lamenting slowly in the same whine that he had thought he already lost, "…Why is this world only getting more complicated? I just want to go home!" He pouted, "I'm going to close my eyes, and when I count to ten, I'm going to wake up in London. One, two, three, four—aw, to hell with it, I'm still not in London."

With that, Waver jumped out of bed and stretched like a predator. Staring at the screen produced by the omnitool, a computer screen, was extremely tiring both for his mind and for his eyes. He stretched a little more before deciding, "Alright! I'll get back to looking them up on this omnitool later. I can use mundane means for now. If Fuyuki is still the way it is, then finding the three families that ruled this place shouldn't be a problem…!"

* * *

><p>Feeling rather out of place, Waver walked into the library. His mind was heavy with thoughts of what actually happened during the conclusion of the Holy Grail War, however if he is to survive this world, then he must understand it better. To that extent, he browsed the shelves for books on modern history, trying to see when or what the divergence that made this world was.<p>

The first thing he realized was that there was no divergence. The date was 2173, almost two hundred years into the future from when he had come from. But this alone did not show him what had occurred or what the wish of the winner of the Grail was.

There was so much that he needed to learn. From the way these modern histories depicted the past, Waver knew that he was behind even the average mundane human in many aspects. He felt like a Neanderthal who had just walked into the London of his time. There were words that appeared again and again: "...Element Zero… First Contact War… Citadel… Mass Relays… Mass Effect." There was so much information, but Waver's mind homed in on the subject of mass effect fields, or more specifically the subject of biotics.

The textbook definition of biotics is the rare individuals who can create mass effect fields using Element Zero nodules embedded within their bodies. From the way these powers were defined, Waver had almost thought the change, or wish, was "magecraft is known to all". But that couldn't be it, because of the underlying differences between magecraft and biotics, since he knew that magic circuits were within the soul and not in the nerve system like Element Zero nodules. However, there were similarities, especially in what exactly Element Zero was and that frightened him.

If magecraft was known to all, then perhaps the systems themselves had been changed by this? He pondered upon this for a moment, but rejected it quickly. That was an impossible theory, one that he would need more information before even making such a leap in logic.

Waver slammed these books closed and stood up. The library was nearly empty, a very different scene compared to his time period. It seemed as if all the common civilians had access to electronic means of data, such that they wouldn't need to leave their homes for almost any question they needed to ask. The single librarian who worked there stared at Waver queerly before muttering something about strange children. It was as if he had expected no one Waver's age to even consider entering this building.

It wasn't just the technological change, Waver decided as he walked down the streets. The very culture of Fuyuki had changed, adapting with the times. People used different terms of greetings, people acted differently to different situations, and… well, none of this should have surprised him once he understood that there were changes. But Waver was still feeling the culture shock. Waver had come to question even his own thoughts, for thinking this was a new world entirely. What if it was the future, a consequence of the Holy Grail War?

Thankfully, the key locations he wanted to visit were one of the few aspects of this new world that had not changed.

The first and closest home that Waver visited was the house of the Matou. Supposedly, they were the family that had formulated the part of the Holy Grail ritual that bound the Heroic Spirits to their forms and implemented the Command Seals system. Their magecraft had made them dangerous, but from the eyes of a magus like Waver, they would be easily found. The house he found was not a mansion like in his world, but a tall apartment complex. The building was rectangular and grey, shaped like an old prison house for functionality rather than for aesthetics. However, there was a metal plate outside of the main entrance that read, 'Matou'.

"This… isn't right," Waver muttered to himself as he studied the building from afar before closing in. At first he had thought that it was just very well hidden, but as he approached closer, he realized that it didn't have any of the signs of magi living within. "There's no defenses, no bounded fields, no… anything. Not even any residual… I…" He frowned. All of this pointed to the conclusion that there was no one inhabiting this home, but that couldn't be right.

He could see that the doors were clean and everything was spotless. For a home this large to stay clean of even dust, there has to be someone doing housekeeping. Still, he felt nothing.

The building was well defended. As he walked around it, Waver noticed dozens of visible cameras and didn't doubt that there were hidden ones tracking his movements too. All of this reeked of danger. If he had been the boy he was a month ago, he would have ran by now. Waver held back a snort of amusement at the thought before studying the other aspects of the building. It had a rather large area around it cleared of anything, leaving only a badly cared for lawn that had many patches of yellow and brown. The building itself seemed to have no other ways of entrance, as even the windows were barred on the outside and inside.

It seemed like whoever was inside had something to hide, but whatever it was, Waver concluded that it couldn't be magecraft. With a shake of his head, Waver nodded, "That crosses the Matou off as winners of the Grail War."

As Waver walked away, he pondered on who it could have been. With a hand cupping his chin and feeling very like the literary figure Sherlock Holmes, Waver grumbled, "The Matou master had been a man named Kariya. He was master to Berserker. The head of Tohsaka had Archer, who was _simple too strong_… but…" He frowned. It couldn't be that simple, could it?

Without another thought, he dashed towards the Tohsaka Mansion. When he had arrived, he found yet another surprise in the form of a sign in front of a huge mansion a dozen stories tall, "SALE!" Waver's frown deepened as he circled the home. It was made in a rather stylish, if a tad too futuristic for Waver, style. Yet this home didn't have any of the defenses that _his_ Tohsaka's home had. There were no ingenious bounded fields that defended against supernatural beings up to even Servants. There were not even the basic alarm spells here. It was devoid of any sign of magecraft, though it was rich in mana. Waver walked around it and studied the rooms within through the windows before sighing.

"Another bust," he muttered. "There's no way someone like that prideful Tohsaka would abandon his home. I guess Archer didn't win the War either…"

He walked away again, pondering on the possibilities. Caster had a homicidal master, who had murdered many people in the city before they were both brought down. Kayneth had lost early on in the scuffles, against the master of Saber and Caster, from what he knew. That left the master of Saber, the Einzbern.

The road to the Einzbern castle was no different from what Waver remembered. However, the last time he had seen these trails, he was on Rider's lightening chariot, flying across the sky at impossible speeds on top of elemental electricity. Hiking the trail up to the castle was very different. Even at the half way mark, Waver was sweating and panting. With some effort, he felt that perhaps he shouldn't be so on guard, and used what skill he could muster in Reinforcement on him body, on his lungs and muscles so that he could go on further.

Again, like the other two homes of the three houses that ruled Fuyuki City, the Einzbern castle was practically defenseless against supernatural attacks. It had neither the powerful bounded field that protected its surrounding forests, nor did it have its own castle's defenses. The castle itself was built to be old and a relic from another time, but Waver could tell under his watchful eyes of Structural Analysis that this building was literally wired down to the last brick. It had an entire network of sophisticated machinery throughout the castle, hidden from sight by the bricks and mortar.

"Ah, at least I'm getting somewhere," Waver muttered, eyeing the castle with suspicion. Would the Einzbern really have made such a strange wish? They were after the restoration of their Magic, the materialization of the soul, weren't they? Waver wondered for a moment that perhaps the Einzbern representative had gone rogue…

"Are you really?" A voice interrupted his thoughts. It was a voice familiar to him because it was the same voice of one of the participants of the Holy Grail War, except… different. The voice was electronic and sharp, not like the most human voice of the homunculus master.

"Einzbern?" Waver turned around in query. "Wha—?" He stared.

It was the adult homunculus of the Einzbern, except… _it_ wasn't. Standing before Waver like a ghost was a translucent, orange form of that Einzbern master Waver remembered, similar to how his omnitool looked.

"I am Irisviel," the hologram spoke, "and I welcome you to the castle Einzbern of Fuyuki. This seems like it is your first visit; may I register you… Mister Waver Velvet?"

"How did you know my name?" Waver frowned, stepping towards the hologram in confusion.

The hologram closed her eyes and bowed to him before answering, "I am the sophisticated VI created by Einzbern scientists and programmers to manage Einzbern holdings in Japan from the headquarters you are currently at. As to how I 'know' your name, Mister Velvet, that is because it is rather simple for something like me to identify intruders since I have a rather large amount of information at my disposal."

"What exactly is a," Waver paused at the term, "VI? If you don't mind me asking," he added.

"A VI is the term for Virtual Intelligence, which is a complex program made to make modern computer systems easier to use as they are only increasingly complex," Irisviel answered. "You were once a student of these sciences, Mister Velvet. Why is it that you do not know this?"

"Ah… I was just…" Waver fished for an answer before he remembered that he had read of virtual intelligences in the books. He said, "wait a minute, if you are a virtual intelligence, why is it that you are asking me a question?"

"Oh! Oh…" The hologram blinked twice before muttering softly, "You are the first to come this far out into my home in so long that I had, in my excitement… Mister Velvet, perhaps we can help each other?" The image tried to deal with him.

Waver's eyes narrowed but his curiosity had been enticed too. Cautiously, he asked, "What can you help me with? And why would you ask me?"

"You… are different," Irisviel said slowly as she too approached Waver. She circled around him, as if to visibly scan and study him. "You don't seem like a normal person, not by the way you carry yourself. There's something about you…"

Waver felt his heart skip a beat. "Wha-what do you mean by that?"

"Well, it's just that…" Irisviel smirked, "You don't even seem all that worried if I'm an artificial intelligence or not."

"Huh?" Waver furrowed his eyebrows in thought. He asked, "Is there a difference between virtual intelligence and artificial intelligence?"

"Why, of course there is!" Irisviel sounded indignant. "VI's are not self aware at all! And the way you are acting… it is as if you've never met a VI or an AI before!" She said, poking at Waver's chest as she spoke. While he didn't feel anything, since Irisviel was made from only light, he did instinctively flinch as she grew more and more passionate.

"No, I haven't," Waver replied truthfully, seeing no reason not to answer thus. "Is there a difference?"

"…yes," Irisviel replied. "AI's are self-aware."

"And VI's are not?" Waver muttered, "but wait, you said you were a VI…"

"Ah! Caught!" Irisviel bopped herself on the head in a comedic gesture and stuck her tongue out at him, "I lied, silly!"

"I… see?" Waver took a step back.

"No, no! You don't see, and don't run away now! It's been almost a century since I've actually had real visitors! Come in, come in!" Irisviel circled around him enthusiastically.

Waver took another step back, "I'd rather—"

Irisviel jumped before him and turned her back towards him and said in a sing-song tone, "I have access to more information about this world than you could possibly imagine!"

"Alright," Waver sighed. He muttered under his breath, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Irisviel only looked at him from over her shoulder knowingly, as if she had heard him.

Most of the castle was rather boring to Waver, because it consisted of either artifacts of only historical and aesthetic value and little trinkets or pieces that were supposed to trophies. The very design of the insides were created to be bourgeois, but Waver had spotted a dozen or more auto-turret cannons hidden in strategic locations that noted him of the practicality behind all of this stuffy design. It wasn't to say that magi were not like this too, but these… these were simply living places of mundane humans. From Irisviel's chatter, he guessed that the Einzbern were not practitioners of magecraft already. They were humans of science and technology. There were some passing comments about the Matou and the Tohsaka, but the families seem to have had a falling out a century ago.

After almost an hour, Irisviel had finally stopped rambling and dragging him through the castle. It was a very large castle. "…And this is my room, where my blue box is kept!" Irisviel stopped before hovering around Waver like a very excited little girl. "So what did you think?"

The room was chilled to low temperatures, with several large, metallic boxes humming with electrical energy in the center. Waver had known that technology would improve, but this entire afternoon had introduced to him the technological advances of over two centuries. This shook him to his core, showing him how very little he knew. But it also excited him, making his mind salivate and his mental taste buds tingle over what he could learn or improve upon with the help of magecraft in the near future.

"It's… great?" Waver asked. "Look, what are you trying to do here, Irisviel? You've already proven to me that you're practically priceless, but if anyone found out the world would have you dead. Why did you tell me this?"

"Oh," Irisviel smirked in a way that caused Waver to shiver. "I've had some theories, actually. But I've been very attentive, you know? For a machine like me, noticing all the small twitches of changes in your body was like… oh, say breathing to you. It was easy, Mister Waver. I had already deduced that you were from a place entirely different… and I want to ask a favor of you. In return, I will help you whatever ways I can. How about it?"

"You haven't told me what the favor was," Waver grunted cautiously.

"Oh, but you see, Mister Velvet," Irisviel leaned close, whispering into his ear. Perhaps it was the temperature of the room, but Waver visibly shivered again. "You don't have a choice in the matter, only an illusion of a choice…"

She paused for a moment before lightening up and returning to the giddy act that she had before. She smiled charmingly at him and said, "I've been so lonely here, Mister Velvet, but I cannot leave. However that doesn't mean all of me cannot leave. Here…" A small box popped out from one of the machines, "Take this in your travels. You want to have knowledge? Well, I want to see the galaxy for all that it is. However, _I_ cannot leave due to my duty. But this… perhaps, think of her as my 'daughter', if you will? If you allow it, she would help you, through the medium of your omnitool. An assistant with such knowledge, who needs neither to sleep nor eat, isn't that just wonderful?"

"…An illusion of a choice, huh," Waver muttered, "I see what you mean. Is she going to be just like you?" In truth, it didn't matter if someone tagged along. If he could find a way back to his world, none of these kinds of deals would matter much. However, if he could bring such technology, that it would be on par with some forms of magecraft, back…

"No, she is her own being," Irisviel smiled at him tightly. "Do take care of her for me, will you? I… Oh, look at me, being so emotional! She'll become active once you leave, just go before I change my mind, alright?"

Waver picked up the box, which could fit into his fist and looked back at Irisviel. She was staring at him intensely, causing him to blush. No woman had… he shook his head. She's not a real woman, isn't she? He pocked the 'blue box' of Irisviel's daughter and nodded, "Alright, farewell."

As he left, Waver only heard Irisviel bade him farewell, but not what followed. "Good luck, Mister Waver Velvet, the guest from another world."

"This is her daughter, huh?" Waver pondered upon the day's events as he lied upon his bed. He held the blue, metallic box up above his head, looking at it from different angles. It was flat and cold to touch despite having been in his pocket for the past few hours. There was a panel that could be opened with two outlets, which Waver assumed to be some kind of way to charge the machine's power. It had been dormant since he had received it and he thought to keep it that way until he knew what exactly he had been given.


End file.
